LIVE UPDATE FROM THE LIVEBLOG OF TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2022
Russian journalist who protested war during live TV show has disappeared
A woman who protested Russia’s war during a live broadcast of Russian state television has disappeared.
Marina Ovsyannikova walked into a TV studio yesterday holding a sign protesting the war in Ukraine.
She was arrested immediately.
Her lawyer, Dmitry Zakhvatov, says he has not been able to make contact with her since the arrest.
“We didn’t find her for now, but we are continuing to search,” Zakhvatov tells CNN.
Ovsyannikova’s friends believe she is being held in a Moscow police station.
Her lawyers say she will be prosecuted under a new criminal law against disseminating “fake news” about Russia’s war in Ukraine or calling it an “invasion.”
Another lawyer, Pavel Chikov, says Ovsyannikova faces a potential prison sentence of 15 years, but will likely be fined for a few hundred dollars.
Ovsyannikova’s father is Ukrainian.
She stormed the TV station yesterday while an anchor was speaking during a newscast holding a sign with “No War” scrawled in English across the top, with a message in Russian saying: “Don’t believe the propaganda. They’re lying to you here.” It was signed in English: “Russians against war.”
Within seconds, the news program cut away to another scene.